Foreign Policy (April 24)
“Britain can’t afford to keep talking about Brexit. The never-ending conversation about leaving the EU has stalled all other progress on economic policy…. We need a resolution to this phase of Brexit, not just to resolve the short-term issue but so that we can start to think about the long term again.”
New York Times (April 13)
“Brexit is not doable because it makes no sense, whatever the prime minister’s scattershot efforts or offers to resign. You can hoodwink people—but not if you give them three years to reflect on how they were hoodwinked before doing the deed the hoodwinking was about. The British cannot actually go through with something that will lower their incomes, make them poorer, lose them jobs, drain investment, expose their market to trade deals over which they would have no say, and—just an afterthought—lead to the breakup of Britain.”
Tags: Brexit, Hoodwink, Incomes, Investment, Jobs, Market, PM, Scattershot, Trade deals
Deutsche Welle (March 29)
“Brexit has already taken down two prime ministers. In 10 days, a crisis summit in Brussels will determine whether the United Kingdom deserves one last chance or it is ultimately preferable to choose a hard Brexit and a miserable but quick end to the endless misery of this unending drama.”
Tags: Brexit, Brussels, Crisis summit, Endless, Hard Brexit, Miserable, Misery, UK
CNN (March 24)
While Prime Minister May “is a focus of anger at home, opinion abroad is also worsening. From a distance, Britain’s long-esteemed political establishment appears to be crumbling, one of the original architects of modern democracy floundering in archaic and arcane process. Much as the British empire eroded publicly with nowhere to hide, the nation’s humiliation over Brexit has staggered center stage.”
Tags: Anger, Brexit, Crumbling, Democracy, Empire, Floundering, Humiliation, Long-esteemed, May, Opinion, UK
The Irish Times (March 15)
“Northern nationalism has shifted its view on the continued viability of the Northern Irish state.” A referendum is imminent and preparation essential for a unified Ireland. “A no-deal Brexit will lead to an instant call for a referendum…. If that happens, we’re into uncharted waters. That scenario is still only a few weeks away.” If there is a Brexit deal, “then the next census, due in 2021, will show a nationalist majority. At that point, it’s hard to see how a British secretary of state could resist calls for a border poll.”
Tags: Brexit, Census, Ireland, Majority, Nationalism, No-deal, Northern Ireland, Poll, Referendum, Unification
Bloomberg (March 13)
“Whatever happens on March 29—a no-deal Brexit, a delay to the departure or some kind of agreement—the U.K. faces a slow but steady erosion to its position as the European center of looking after other people’s money….. However Brexit plays out, the U.K. fund management industry will be a long-term loser from the fallout.”
The Guardian (March 12)
“Theresa May’s Brexit lost to the ultimate adversary: reality…. There might still be ways that Brexit can go badly; unexplored dead ends and byways of failure. But the road to success is now closed.”
Washington Post (March 8)
“Thursday’s about-face sounded alarms about a global slowdown that caught officials off guard.” On Thursday, the ECB “unveiled a new economic rescue package, citing a darkening outlook driven by a slowdown in China, fears that the United Kingdom will make a chaotic exit from the European Union and aftershocks from President Trump’s tariff wars.”
Tags: About-face, Alarms, Brexit, China, ECB, EU, Global slowdown, Rescue package, Tariff wars, Trump, UK
Reuters (February 19)
“With no deal in sight as Britain’s March 29 exit date approaches, supermarkets are stockpiling, working on alternative supplies and testing new routes to cope with an expected logjam at the borders but say they face insurmountable barriers.” One of the biggest is that you simply can’t stockpile fresh produce and other perishables. “Intense competition and slim margins in the British supermarket sector have also made contingency planning more complicated.”
Tags: Barriers, Borders, Brexit, March 29, Produce, Stockpiling, Supermarkets, Supply routes, UK
Pound Sterling Live (February 15)
“The British Pound is under pressure ahead of the weekend, holding the title of the worst-performing major G10 currency over the course of the past five trading days. Losses come as the government suffered a symbolic defeat…with pro-Brexit MPs voting against a motion tabled by the government.”
Tags: Brexit, Currency, Defeat, G10, Government, Losses, Pound, Trading, UK, Worst-performing
